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AIIMS-Delhi performs first dual kidney transplant, recipient now has 4 kidneys
During the operation, the two kidneys of the donor were placed in a heterotropic manner without removing recipient's own kidneys.
Surgeons have performed a dual kidney transplant on a patient under dialysis for the first time at AIIMS-Delhi. The successful operation was done on a 51-year-old woman patient, by AIIMS's department of surgical disciplines and department of nephrology in collaboration with the Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation (ORBO) on December 22 last year. Additional professor of surgery at the hospital Dr Asuri Krishna, who performed the surgery, said this feat was being shared with the media now as "we wanted to ensure the patient is doing well".
Dr Krishna said the donor was a 78-year-old woman. The donor was admitted to AIIMS Trauma Centre on December 19 with a severe head injury after suffering a fall. Later, she was declared brain dead and her family gave consent for organ donation.
The recipient's both kidneys had failed and she was on dialysis. During the operation, the two kidneys of the donor were placed in a heterotropic manner without removing her own kidneys. Thus, the patient now has four kidneys.
"The patient is doing well. She is off haemodialysis and her kidney is functioning normally. These patients require closer monitoring and have been doing well so far," Dr Krishna said.
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Why both kidneys of the donor were used
As the donor was 78-year-old, due to extreme age, her single kidney would not have been sufficient for a patient on dialysis. Dr Krishna revealed that they clamped the major artery and vein of the patient to join the 1st kidney and then placed the second kidney below it.
Dr Krishna said placing two kidneys on the patient's right side was a major challenge.
"Both the kidneys were placed on the right side of the recipient one on top of the other. The recipient had an uneventful recovery with both the kidneys performing well following the surgery," said Dr Krishna.
"This one-of-a-kind surgery is a great example of using limited resources to bridge the huge demand and supply gap that exists for organs in India by using the organs from an elderly donor which usually would have been rejected," he said.
(With inputs from news agencies)
